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Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Musical Musings - 2 - Mandram vandha and I

In my last blog I had described how the song "mandram vandha thendralukku" became inseparable. One glaring thing I never had in CECRI was a good set of people with whom I could discuss at length about music and improve (barring one person, Deepa, who was way too good for discussion). This yearning was resolved when I came in touch with a great forum http://tfmpage.com/forum where I found people discussing and shredding songs with their analysis. I was introduced to this page by my CECRI senior, Dandy, at Univ of South carolina where I am still hunting for my PhD. I found a great relief when I could at last bump into a set of people who had ideas very similar to mine about music. This forum eased my pressure of questioning and infused in me a lot of new insights about music, objective analysis, appreciation for great artists like MSV who I was not very familiar with and also a lot of new details on the music styles. In my own way, I contributed, sometimes naively, sometimes ordinarily and occasionally convincingly on various topics of music. Some of the participants became very good personal friends with whom I have a great rapport irrespective of the ideological differences. On "mandram vandha thendralukku" I wrote what I felt then. It is given below. One beautiful song with admirable lyrics is "Mandram Vandha Thendralukku". The song in the very first line indicates that there is a misunderstanding between the husband and wife. The second line

"Bhoopalamae Koodaathennum Vaanam undO soll"

It is one of the lines with a deep inner meaning. Without Bhoopalam the sky can survive and so is the case of the raga. It can exist without the sky. But the very meaning of their existence is lost. They must pair up to add meaing to their existence.

"Thaamarai Melae Neerthuli Pole Thalivanum Thalaiviyum Vazhvadhenna"

Everybody understands that the glossy coat on the leaf of the the lotus is hydrophobic. Inspite of the two being associated for the very purpose of survival they are unattached. This tells us the story of the film in just one line.

"Nanbargal Polae vazhvadharkku maalaiyum melamum thevai alla"

This clearly demarcates the regimes of friendship and love. The couple need to have something above the normal plane of friendship. It is for that purpose that they have been united by the wedlock. This line indicates that there is no physical relation between them which is absolutely essential.

Other lines are:

"Medaiyaip polae vazhkai alla"

This reflects the traditional Indian philosophy. It contradicts the very much western "All the world is a stage" by shakespeare. It says the life is no play and implies that the wedlock is precious and has divinity. The line opposes the "Take it easy way" of the Western world when it comes to marital relations and values.
The next line:

"Oadaiyaippolae Uravum alla Paadhaigal Maariyae payanam sella"

This line stresses much more the interpretations of the previous line. The traditional Indian view of the marriage being a one - to - one function is highlighted here. It says that a river if courses through many paths at the same time shall lose its might and content and this highlights the ill effects of polyandry and polygamy. In the film this line indicates that neither Mohan nor Revathi can get over the relation that they had established. She cannot forget her past and he does not want to lose his present. This line emphasizes that the two be in good relation with each other to ease the way of living in the future.